Absorbent articles, such as baby diapers, training pants, adult incontinence products and other such absorbent products include a topsheet that is closest to the wearer, an outer, moisture-impermeable backsheet, and an absorbent core. Over time the absorbent cores have become increasingly thinner with superabsorbent materials being included in ever-increasing amounts in place of traditional cellulosic pulp and other fillers and absorbents. While these thinner, superabsorbent-containing cores provide advantages, such as, generally offering a better fit to the wearer, they also present various challenges. One such challenge relates to the acquisition and distribution of liquid insults. In conventional core designs the liquid spreads radially from the point where it strikes, or insults, the core. Thus, rather than being dispersed across the core surface generally, its transport is localized. This challenge is exacerbated by the issue of gel blocking. Gel blocking refers to the blocking of liquid transport through the core by the swelling and gelling of the superabsorbent material as it absorbs and retains liquid and swells. Gel blocking often leads to leakage from the absorbent article since the core does not have the ability to absorb and retain liquid at the rate desired.
Prior designs have attempted, to varying degrees of success and in a variety of ways, to address these issues. These efforts have involved the selection of superabsorbent materials based on the materials' properties, the addition of acquisition and distribution layers on top of the cores, and the positioning of the superabsorbent materials in the core in a variety of designs and arrangements.
The preferred embodiments discussed below seek to address some of these disadvantages in the prior art.